Enhancement Shaman Raid Tips

Raids

Antorus, the Burning Throne

Antorus switches up from Tomb with a very large focus on your single target output, and add control vs. the burst/controlled AoE that was in 7.2. Damage is a lot more consistent meaning that self healing in your toolkit is more useful, and your defensive tool can be saved for very high spike periods to ease out the danger in a fight rather than having frequent high danger periods. With that, Enhancement's damage profile excels here being a single target powerhouse with short burst windows for some different fights that require it, or alternatively simply being a boss damage turret that will reduce fight times significantly. Below in each tab will contain more specialised tips to each encounters, and when to use specific utility and movement/defensive tools to optimise the minutia of your play, rather than strictly your rotational gameplay as that is covered on other pages of the guide. Do note as well, much like Tomb, any and all of the tips found here may be subject to your raid and composition, and the strategy you use, so some parts may not be as vital as explained here (in particular in Antorus Mythic, as some of the fight switch ups can alter raid comps significantly).

For talent choices within Antorus to make the most out of the spec, generally a lot of your DPS tiers will be locked into the build below (although you can look at Enhancement Talent page for a more broad explanation if you want to experiment), but utility may shift around depending on what you may or may not need. A catch all build would look like the following:

Bear in mind that this is a catch all build that is generally served as the easiest way to flexibly interact with all of the encounters, and there are optimisations to be made with each. Looking at top Warcraft Logs pages to see what others are using on specific fights if you really want to push yourself along with the other top players, or more importantly experimenting yourself with different talent setups within the confines of your raid group will provide a more nuanced ability to react to different fights and be the best Enhancement Shaman you can be.

Garothi Worldbreaker is the opening encounter in Antorus and is a relatively simple introductory encounter to start you off. It's almost entirely single target focused, and its mechanics are relatively simple to avoid or interact with. You should be making sure to stick to your melee stacking spot for Dezimierung casts so you don't drop them in a bad spot, and make sure to avoid Brodelnde Teufelsenergie lines when they appear; these are the most important fundamental boss mechanics to pay attention to.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Entirely single target fight so talent with that in mind.

Totem des Windsturms is extremely useful as a backup for getting yourself and other melee get out and back in during Ausrottung if you don't have access to a gateway.

Prydaz, Xavarics Magnum Opus can be useful if you find yourself having issues surviving through the constant damage to give a break for healers.

Astralverschiebung is freeform, if you feel like you're taking a lot of damage or the raid is unstable, hit this to keep yourself healthy. The most common point of this is after Ausrottung or Dezimierung applications.

Use Tobende Blitze aggressively in the intermission to activate the buff, and try to refresh it just before the first cannon dies. This only applies to the first intermission.

If your health is unstable, use Heilende Woge aggressively when the Dezimierung debuff is active as the raid will be taking a lot of increased damage.

Mythic Specific:

The fight largely operates the same but with higher overall damage, so there aren't any specific things I feel are important to add.

Felhounds of Sargeras has very little to optimise, and much like Garothi Worldbreaker ends up being a single target Patchwerk style fight. There are minor optimisations depending on mechanics that target you, but otherwise your base rotation should be the priority. Make sure that you stick to the dog that provides the appropriate debuff (Schattenberührt = Shadow Dog/Shatug, Flammenberührt = Fire Dog/F'harg). Be sure to stack for Entzug/Last der Dunkelheit, and spread out for Ausbrechende Flammen, whilst making sure you are never in front of your respective dog to avoid their cleave. Make absolutely sure to not stand at the end point of Verschlingende Sphäre, as this will be lethal, and dodge any fire patches left behind during the Siphon window from Lodernder Knall, as this will often be very stacked and extremely dangerous.

Antoran High Command follows in a similar vein to Mistress Sassz'ine, in that it has some intermittent adds that are relatively low priority, that can help fuel your boss damage to defeat the encounter quicker as Enhancement. Survivability can sometimes be called into question as it has a lot of intermittent damage to keep you low followed by heavy burst from Feuersalve, but the shields provided during the encounter via Teufelsschildemitters; but if you feel unstable self healing is fine. Note our passive defense doesn't make us an ideal candidate for the Kapsel des Admirals, but if you must go in, any are fine as we are mostly there for single target funnelling above all else.

Portal Keeper Hasabel has two alternative paths that you may take depending on your guild's needs. I personally think being downstairs is more optimal allowing us to funnel more damage into the boss and contribute to Teufelslohenwichtel control with Totem der Blitzwoge, but being upstairs is fine as well as we bring a low cooldown interrupt in Windstoß. Do remember our on demand snap burst on a single target that lives for such a long time however isn't as stellar as it once was, and we can easily be outshined by other options so bear that in mind.

Astralverschiebung can help upstairs if your Healer is struggling, or downstairs if adds are casting. Otherwise, try to save it for the tail end when all 3 portals are ticking on the raid when Kollabierende Welt triggers.

Mythic Specific:

Plays out predominantly the same, just with higher damage and control requirements so nothing significant to add.

Make sure to set up an interrupt rotation with your group to cover all of the casts up here, and remember you can do it slightly more frequently with Windstoß.

Try to save Totem des Windsturms for when on the Paraxis to quickly adjust your group to their crystals quickly, getting you back to the fight efficiently.

Imonar provides a single target encounter with frequent intermissions that can disrupt our gameplay, but is generally quite simple with a few high octane mechanics that require quick reaction time from both you and your raid. We come primed with a solid damage profile for this boss, allowing us to capitalise on the unusual uptimes with a little bit of luck, and can also help the raid cross the bridge which is extremely useful. Our one flaw is our relatively weak survivability, and some periods of the fight can have very high incoming damage requiring a lot of self healing and some extra attention from your Healers.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Take Totem des Windsturms without question here and use it on the bridge crossing your are assigned to. This is crucial to efficiently crossing here if you have no Stampeding Roars.

The fight operates largely the same, just with more bridge crossings requiring you to play more carefully with the group.

Kin'Garoth is one of the more positioning intensive boss fights in Antorus, and given there is a significant amount of constant raid damage going out, you need to be acutely aware of where you are standing due to how fragile Enhancement can sometimes be - there really isn't room for avoidable damage here. Our quick burst during the robot phase can sometimes be strong, but is generally quite average, but in exchange we bring exceptional boss damage due to our strong burst windows coming from Schwelendes Herz which is out of our control.

If you find yourself slow to get to your Robot, save Geisterpfoten for each Apokalypseprotokoll to move there and get set up quickly as Robot damage is crucial.

Varimathras is a pure single target boss that allows us to shine due to its relatively slow ramping raid damage and extremely high focus on a medium length, high DPS requirement encounter. Whilst it's relatively simplistic, it will test your fundamental ability to execute your rotation to optimise damage, and avoid its mechanics as failure to do so is very punishing. The only significant mechanic on Heroic and Mythic is Nekrotischer Griff, which mostly has us throwing all of our defense and utility at it to stay stable, as very little else is particularly lethal without causing a wipe.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Regenschauer can cover the entire group and help with healing if it is ever a problem, for a negligible DPS loss.

Be more aware of the Nekrotischer Griff timer - at two points they come just after Schicksalswinde is back available so you can hold it if you don't want to risk being out of range.

Coven of Shivarra can often be a frustrating fight for melee as there are frequent periods and a number of mechanics that can disrupt your uptime, alongside getting in the way of allowing you to perform key roles. We also don't have a great deal of tools to deal with them, and no safety net if anything goes wrong so I strongly advise paying extra attention to your surroundings here so as not to get caught off guard. In particular, make sure to spread early and not move eratically during Wut von Golganneth, especially if it syncs up with Sturm der Finsternis. Try to keep cool and be thinking about where you need to be a few seconds in advance as timers tick down so you aren't caught out, in no difficulty is this a particularly tight DPS check.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Wildes Anspringen is the most useful here, allowing you to quickly adjust in the event you are in a bad position. Make absolutely sure not to use this during Wut von Golganneth for the safety of your raid.

Play for single target, Cleave can often be unreliable. Most mechanics will one shot you, so survival choices aren't too relevant either.

In-fight Tips:

If the two active Shivarra are positioned precisely, you can Cleave with Tobende Blitze if you stand between them. Just be very careful not to endanger yourself or the raid doing so.

Alternatively, use Tobende Blitze as aggressively as possible when the Shivarra are moved over each Torment to keep the buff up.

Tomb of Sargeras

Tomb of Sargeras has a very heavy focus on movement and damage intake, meaning that your survivability will be key to making it through a lot of the fights. The Enhancement toolkit is also well suited to the different damage types required within Tomb, so as long as you can stay alive your contribution to each fight should be great; so worry more about the first part and the second will come naturally. Below you will find tips that I have personally found useful when managing each of the encounters, both for damage and for survivability/mobility which may help improve your play. Just be aware that any and all of these tips are specific to your raid and your composition, so some may not be necessary (this is especially true when considering Mythic specific tips!).

When it comes to your talent choices, there is as always a lot of variety in your builds and I would strongly advise looking at the Enhancement Talent page for advice on different situations for each to shine. A general catch all build for Tomb specifically would look like the following:

Bear in mind that this is a catch all build that is generally served as the easiest way to flexibly interact with all of the encounters, and there are optimisations to be made with each. Looking at top Warcraft Logs pages to see what others are using on specific fights if you really want to push yourself along with the other top players, or more importantly experimenting yourself with different talent setups (given how flexible Enhancement is now with this patch) within the confines of your raid group will absolutely provide a more nuanced ability to react to different fights and be the best Enhancement Shaman you can be.

Whilst Goroth is a relatively simple entry fight, the damage intake is very high, and increases significantly in Mythic when you add in the additional Mythic soak mechanic involving Schwefelregen. There is no meaningful enrage and as such it's predominantly about survival, and you should play the fight as such. Avoid unnecessary damage, and make sure your positioning is on point especially when targetted by Comets or when Infernal Burning is cast. Other than that, the fight is fairly easy to play around and there aren't any really advanced things you can do.

Cast Aszendenz as early as possible in the opener to allow for it to be back before the second Höllisches Brennen. Also, try save your last Ascendance cast in the fight for the final Burning cast when out of range.

Your key to optimising not only your damage on Demonic Inquisition but also successfully defeating the encounter as a DPS is managing your Qual. Taking excess damage from Calcified Quills, generating excess Torment by hitting Belac during Fel Squall/Atrigan during Bonesaw, or being dispelled late will not only cause you to take additional, unnecessary damage, but also require you to Confess and go downstairs more frequently. This costs a significant amount of DPS and uptime, and should be avoided as much as possible if you are attempting to improve your performance on this fight.

Harjatan is the last of the 3 simpler entry bosses in Tomb. This adds a small amount of micro-management and room for optimisation if you're using the Tier 20 4-pc bonus, alongside finding extra damage via AoE. Just be aware there are some spikey moments in damage, and some positional awareness required both with the pools on the ground and stray Aqueous Burst casts that hit you, requiring you to get out of the group. Just pay close attention to timers for the Murloc spawns so you are prepared to cleave, and play around your Crash Lightning opportunitise accordingly.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Single Target with intermittent burst AoE so gear/talent to compliment that.

Generally Wind Rush is best on the 3rd Egg Spawn, as the slam comes very quickly after the spawn.

Sisters of the Moon is a fight very focused around survival. Damage is a secondary factor here, and making sure you are comfortably avoiding/surviving each of the dangerous mechanics is a far bigger key to success than being able to output as much damage as possible. Make sure you are aware of pressure points of the fight to avoid high damage glaives, and if uncomfortable self-heal with Heilende Woge aggressively to survive. Don't overthink the importance of damage requirements, and instead focus on avoiding deadly boss mechanics to make the fight easier for your healer team.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Single Target with a very short period of cleave when Moontalon is active in Phase 2.

You can take Regenschauer to help with make healing in the Melee camp more stable if needed.

Prydaz, Xavarics Magnum Opusis exceptionally useful throughout the fight due to the frequent, random one shot mechanics that can overlap, and DPS is not a make or break aspect of the fight.

Mistress Sassz'ine is a much more complex fight than previously encountred in Tomb, especially in Mythic difficulties, with a large number of dangerous damaging mechanics and add management to boot. There's a lot of room to maximise not only your overall damage here, but to funnel it into the boss itself (which is far more valuable) if you make sure to not be too overzealous on AoE on the Abyss Stalkers. This extends into Mythic very well, as it allows you to capitalise on one of the strongest aspects of Enhancement DPS via the AoE funnelling tools, just make sure that when doing so you are fully aware of the various deadly mechanics (Hydra Shot & Crashing Wave in particular) and don't over-extend; and be willing to expend some Maelstrom on healing to stay stable if hit by an excess of DoT mechanics in the fight. This encounter has as much of a focus on damage as it does on survival, and you should treat it with respect because of that.

Aszendenz is excellent in Mythic for staying safe at range when your Köstlicher Stärkungsfisch is up to frontload high burst during the effect without risk of getting hit by stray damaging mechanics and losing it.

Sephuz' Geheimnis is a great alternative legendary due to constant interrupts/CC opportunities available from the Abyss Stalkers and Murlocs throughout the fight.

Try to save cooldowns for your assigned Köstlicher Stärkungsfisch timings in your group and dump them with as many stacks as possible to make the most use out of the damage increase effect.

Depending on the realm you are placed in, The Desolate Host can operate differently; however Enhancement performs best in the Spirit Realm so I'll be making tips here based on the assumption you are placed here, as things aren't easy to optimise past the base level in the Corporeal Realm. Make sure you are efficiently using your AoE tools when there, and interrupting any excess casts (past the Screams needed to shatter Armor upstairs) to make the downstairs as stable as possible. Focus Residues when they spawn but move away before they detonate, and cleave down adds whilst focusing the Soul Queen, using your defensive tools and self healing if ever the realm becomes unstable to help out healers when the realm becomes unstable.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Cleave for a majority of the fight with occasional periods of AoE.

Take Totem der Blitzwoge to help lock down Soul Residue at the pull and when they spawn in the Spirit Realm.

Emalons geladener Kern a good choice due to numerous periods of 3 target AoE both up and downstairs. Note the faster these die in your raid, the worse this becomes.

Keep Tobende Blitze up as aggressively as possible throughout the fight, refreshing the buff as adds are about to die.

Try to hold high stacks of Krachender Blitz from your T20 4-pc if adds are going to spawn within the next 10-15~ seconds so you can deal a quick chunk of burst AoE when they are stacked together.

Mythic Specific:

Sephuz' Geheimnis is a solid alternative if you're in the spirit realm. Use the spare Priestess to trigger it on cooldown, using Windstoß if it's tanked at range. Don't interrupt Screams if it needs to detonate though.

Maiden of Vigilance has no real damage requirement, but has a very high mechanical focus with an extreme failure state that will wipe the raid if done incorrectly. Due to this, make sure to always pay more attention to your Infusion and the state of the group to minimise risk, and focus on your regular rotation rather than doing anything fancy so you don't trigger any instant wipes. If you're soaking orbs, put as much focus as you can onto those rather than caring too much about your damage; the check is quite low on this boss and the damage lost from soaking incorrectly and triggering Instabile Seele will be far higher than some misplaced globals. Other than this, try to manage your cooldowns around the completion of orb phases, as the damage buff at higher stacks is a massive increase.

The penultimate encounter, Fallen Avatar, presents a very high DPS requirement fight alongside some very intensive group damage mechanics that require high awareness and precise movement. Whilst our survivability and ability to deal with a lot of the mechanics aren't stellar, in lower difficulties most of these can simply be avoided rather than the need to soak. Enhancement brings an incredibly powerful damage package on this boss, with a lot of different tools to suit all aspects of the fight, being able to capitalise on Crash Lightning cleave effects, burst damage for the Maiden shields, and relatively high mobility for situations that require it in both Phases allowing for high uptime; which counter-acts the fragility to some extent. Just make sure to not take any undue risks with the mechanics, as they are all extremely dangerous if you don't respect them, and make liberal use of movement tools to stick to the boss in between them.

Talent/Gearing Choices:

Predominantly Single Target fight with intermittent cleave depending on how much Maiden damage you need.

Try to stand max melee range and strafe in a small area during Entfesseltes Chaos depending on how busy your melee area is.

Try to save your last Aszendenz use in Phase 2 for a period when out of range (such as during a Realitätsfraktur cast), to maximise its value.

The final boss in the Tomb of Sargeras is Kil'Jaeden, which contains a number of similar mechanics to those you have faced in previous bosses merged together to form an highly movement intensive fight, with a lot of survivability required to comfortably make it through. Here you need to take special care of your positioning so you can adequately soak Armageddonregen casts, help soak Fokussierte Schreckensflamme with your group, and lastly avoid standing in front of the boss to avoid getting hit by Teufelsklauen. All of these mechanics will take a chunk out of your health, so liberal self healing is very much encouraged here. The more you can minimise your movement in this phase when helping with mechanics, the more your uptime will be rewarded in boss DPS and contribution to success.